Slitting mechanism



Nov. 7, 1967 v D. E. GERSTEIN 3,350,967

SLITTING MECHANISM Filed March 16, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Dav/a E. Gersfe/fl BY m -W ATTORNEY Nov. 7, 1967 D. E. GERSTEIN 3,350,967

SLITTING MECHANISM Filed March 16, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dav d E. Ge 'SI/Q/n BY W M ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,350,967 SLI'I'TING MECHANISM David E. Gerstein, 63--33 98th Place, Forest Hills, NY. 11375 Filed Mar. 16, 1967, Ser. No. 629,054 Claims. (CI. 82-46) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE tinuous knife blades with a saw blade disposed therebetween.

The present invention relates to slitting means which are particularly advantageous for slitting rolls of material.

Heretofore with the use of conventional slitters it has been impractical to slit large rolls of material where layers are fusible when slit at a rapid rate. It has been realized that if an enlarged form of conventional slitters were utilized the waste of the material being slit would make the entire operation uneconomical.

It is therefore the primary object of the present invention to provide a slitter which can successfully and economically slit rolls of fusible material of large diameter while nevertheless being advantageously usable to slit rolls of material of a smaller diameter.

It is another object of the present invention to provide slitter means that are particularly adapted for slitting materials at high rates of speed without generating undesirable heating of the material that has been cut.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a slitter with an intermediate tool that has a cutting edge that is adjustable relative to the cutting edge of the two other tools.

It is another object of this invention to provide a slitting means that is readily adjustable for various size rolls of film material and is relatively simplein construction and economical to manufacture.

Other objects and advantages will be readily apparent from the following detailed specification and the attached drawing wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of the slitter of this invention.

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the slitter of this invention illustrating supporting structure.

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view of one of the guide means for the slitter of this invention with one of the intermediate cutters illustrated as lagging the others.

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 3 illustrating the intermediate cutter leading the other two cutters.

It has now been found that the foregoing objects and other advantages can be readily attained in a slitting mechanism having support means and drums rotatably mounted on the support means in spaced aligned relationship. While for illustrative purposes only two drums are illustrated, it will be understood that more than two drums may be used with each blade or a pair of blades separately carried on one pair of drums. A pair of continuous knife blades are mounted on the drum as is a continuous saw blade which is disposed between the pair of knife blades. Power means may be connected to one of the drums from driving the blades. A blade guide is provided on the support means which engages the pair of knife blades to keep them in abutting relationship with the saw blade disposed between. The guide also has an adjustable member engaging the saw blade to position the cutting edge of the saw blade in the desired position relative to the cutting edge of the pair of knife blades. Accordingly, the slitting mechanism of this invention advantageously provides three continuous blades. This arrangement is particularly desirable for cutting rolls of film at high rates of speed where the film has a tendency to fuse together. The slitting mechanism of this invention with its three continuous blades allows the blades a period of time to cool after they have engaged the material to be cut and also allows an intermediate saw blade to lead or lag the knife blades as desired according to the type of material to be cut. In addition to cutting rolls of film material, the slitting mechanism of this invention has other obvious uses for cutting different materials as with conventional slitting mechanisms.

The movable support means may be power driven to move the blades relative to the material to be cut. The support means may mount the drums at an angle to the surface of the material to be cut and the blade guide may be adapted to engage the outer sides of the knife blades to position the knife blades and the saw blade generally perpendicular to the surface of the material to be cut. This construction is particularly advantageous as it allows the guide to readily hold the three blades in tight abutting relationship to reduce the size of the cut out to reduce waste.

The guide may have a pair of aligned rollers mounted thereon disposed on opposite sides of and engaged with the outer surface of the knife blades. The adjustable members of the guide may be an adjustable roller engaged with the non-cutting edge of the saw blade and having an axis of rotation perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the pair of rollers. This arrangement provides relatively simple and economical construction for positioning the three blades in tight abutting relationship generally perpendicular to the material to be cut, and further provides for ready adjustment of the saw blade relative to the adjacent knife blades. This arrangement is particularly useful for employment with a saw blade that has a width, as distinguished from thickness, that is greater than the width of the knife baldes so that the saw blade may be positioned to lead or lag the knife blades.

In addition to the adjustable roller guide engaged with the non-cutting edge of the saw blade other means may be used to adjust the position of the saw blade relative to the knife blades. Such other means would include a stationary guide or guides, a roller guide having concentric cylindrical engaging surfaces in different diameters to engage both the knife blades and the saw blade to hold these parts in the desired relationship. In order to vary the relative position of the slitting mechanism these guides may be adapt-ed to be readily changed for different guides with engaging cylindrical surfaces with various predetermined diameters.

A pair of these blade guides may be mounted on the support in spaced relationship in order to position the blades before and after the blades have engaged the material to be cut. The pair of blade guides may be adjustable to accommodate various size rolls of material to be cut. Desirably, the blade guides may be power driven to facilitate rapid adjustment to different size rolls for high rates of production. Cooling means may also be provided to further cool the blades when very high cutting rates are required.

It has been found that in cutting different types of ma terial, it is sometimes desirable to have the intermediate saw blade lead or lag the adjacent knife blades depending on the type of material to be cut in order to produce effective cutting.

Referring now to the drawings the slitting mechanism or band saw of this invention is mounted on two rotatable drums and 12 either or both of which may be power driven. The drums 10 and 12 are mounted on a housing '14 by means of shafts 16 and 18 respectively which rotata'bly mount the drums 10 and 12 in an aligned spaced apart relationship. The shaft 16 and drum 10 is driven by an electric motor 20 supported on the housing 14 and which may be a two speed or variable speed drive. The housing 14 is adapted to mount the drums 10 and 12 on opposite sides of a roll of film 22 which is mounted on a shaft 24.

As illustrated in FIGURE 2 the roll of film 22 and shaft 24 may be supported in a conventional manner such as on a lathe or similar device with a base 32 which has spaced apart supports 34 and 36 with chucks 38 and 40 or similar conventional devices which engage opposite ends of the shaft 24. If desired, either of the chucks 34 and 36 may be used to rotate the shaft 24 in the usual manner.

Rigidly supported on the base 32 is a carriage 42 for moving the housing 14 relative to the roll of film 22. The carriage 42 may be permanently affixed to the base 32 or it may be adapted to be portable and attached to the base 32 with readily releasable fasteners. The carriage 42 has a slide 44 upon which the housing 14 is mounted for translation relative to the roller of film 22. The slide 44 is supported on opposite ends by grooves in the car- 'riage 42 and is additionally supported and guided by vertical bars 46 for reciprocating motion on the carriage 42. The slide 44 and the housing 14 are movable relative to the roll of film 22 by means of a threaded shaft 48 which engages cylindrical internally threaded members 49 and 50 rigidly fixed on one end of the housing 14. The threaded shaft 48 is driven by a motor 51 having a shaft 52 with a bevel gear 54 engaging a complementary bevel gear 56 on one end of the threaded shaft 48. Thus rotation of the motor 51 will cause the slide 44 and the housing 14 to move up or down relative to the roll of film 22 depending on the direction of rotation of the motor 51. Other conventional means may be used to move the housing 14 relative to the roll of film 22 such as hydraulic or air cylinder devices. As mentioned above, the carriage 42 may be portable so it may be removed from the base 32 which may be the platform of a conventional lathe and used elsewhere.

Three continuous blades 60, 62 and 64 are mounted on and extend between the drums 10 and 12 for cutting the roll of film 22. The blades 60, 62 and 64 are disposed in grooves (not shown) in the drum 10 and 12 and are driven in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG- URE 1 by the motor 20 and the drum 10, of course, the

drive may be in the opposite direction if desired. The blades 60 and 62 have knife edges as illustrated in FIG- URE 3 and are disposed on opposite sides of blade 64 which has a saw tooth cutting edge.

As illustrated in FIGURE 2 the housing 14 and drums 10 and 12 are mounted on the carriage 42 at about a 45 degree angle to the surface of the roll of film 22. In order to position the blades 60, 62 and 64 so that they cut the roll of film at right angles to the surface thereof and to hold the three blades as close together as possible, a pair of blade guides, generally designated by the numeral 66, are adjustably mounted on the housing 14 so as to be disposed on opposite sides of the roll 22 and adjacent the drums 10 and 12. The blade guides 66 are movably mounted on a rack 67 on the housing 14 by a dovetail portion 68, pinion 69 and roller 70. To adjust the blade guides 66, the rack 67 is engaged by the pinion 69 which is driven by a motor 71 for moving the blade guides 66 on the housing 14 in order to accommodate various size -rolls.

Each of the blade guides 66 has a pair of arms 72 which extend from the housing 14 and are bent at an angle, as illustrated in FIGURE 3, for positioning roller brackets 74 and 76 which hold the blades 60, 62 and 64 substantially at a right angle to the surface of the roll of film 22 in a manner described below.

A pair of side rollers 78 are mounted on opposite sides of the blades 60, 62 by means of shafts 79 supported on the brackets 74 and 76. The side rollers 78 function to twist the blades 60, 62 and 64 so that they are positioned at right angles to the roll of film 22 and also to hold the three blades in a tight abutting relationship as illustrated in FIGURE 3 so that they enter the roll of film 22 substantially as a single blade with the smallest possible width. Positioning the drums 10 and 12 and housing 14 at a 45 degree angle to the surface of the roll of film 22 assists the blade guides 66 in holding the blades 60', 6'2 and 64 in tight abutting relationship to reduce the width of the three blades and thus the width of the cut in the roll of film 22.

Also mounted on each of the blade guides 66 is an adjustable band saw positioning roller 80 adapted to adjust the position of the saw tooth blade 64 relative to the knife blades 60- and 62. As illustrated in FIGURE 4 the tooth blade 64 may be positioned to lead the cutting edges of the blades 60 and 62, or to lag behind the cutting edges of the knife edge 60 and 62, as illustrated in FIG- URE 3. The grooves (not shown) for blades 64 on the drums 10 and 12 accommodate the blade 64 and are adapted to align the blades 60, 62 and 64 relative to each other for engagement by guides 66. In this way either the knife blades 60 and 62 or the saw blade 64 may be adjusted to be led into the material first. The roller 80 is adjustable so that the blade 64 may be positioned in any intermediate position including that position where all three blades 60, 62 and 64 enter the material to be cut at the same time. In order to adjust the positioning roller 80 which is mounted on a shaft 82 a pair of sliding blocks 84 are provided that support shaft 82 and are adapted for movement on the brackets 74 and 76 by rotation of an adjustment screw 86 which is locked in position by a nut 88.

Thus, the pair of side rollers 78 positioned on opposite sides of the knife blades 60 and 62, guide the three blades 60, 62 and 64 as they come off the drum 12 so that these blades are positioned in abutting relationship perpendicular to the surface of the roll of film 22. After cutting through the roll of film 22, the three blades 60, 62 and 64 pass through the second set of blade guides 66, in a manner similar to that described above for the first set of blade guides, where they are fed onto the driving drum 10.

A brush 90 is located between the second set of blade guides 66 and the drum 10 in order to remove scrap material from the blades and a disposal chute 92 is adapted to remove the scrap dislodged by the brush 90 by means of a vacuum applied thereto. After the three blades 60, 62 and 64 pass by the brush 90- and around the drum 10, they are engaged by a snubber whereupon the blades 60, 62 and 64 are separated and engaged by individual tensioning members 102, 104 and 106 respectively which are movable in a conventional manner by means (not shown) for adjusting the tension on the three continuous blades. After passing the tensioning members 102, 104 and 106, the two outside knife blades 60 and 62 pass through honing members 108 and 1 10 for sharpening these blades. The three blades 60, 62 and 64 then pass about the drum 12 and through a cooling member 112 where the blades may be cooled by conventional refrigeration means and lubricated. Obviously, this cooling member can be placed at various positions on the band saw blades. Accordingly, this invention provides for cutting a roll of film by means of knife blades 60 and 62 and continuous saw blade 64 positioned intermediate the knife blades and which may be adjusted to either lead or lag the knife blades into the material to be cut.

The band saw of this invention inherently does not generate as much heat in the material being cut as other type blades because the three continuous blades carry the heat away and have an opportunity to cool before another cut is made by the same portion of the blade.

The arrangement of the present invention is particularly advantageous in slitting rolls of material of relatively large diameter without Waste of the material. Heretofore such slitting operations, especially on rolls of material with a large diameter, were achieved somewhat poorly by a knife blade Whose width is greatly enlarged in order to get through the material, which resulted in waste of a large amount of the material being cut and consequently was not economic. With the device of the current invention rolls of material of relatively small diameter can also be slit with great efficiency. The device of the present invention is also advantageous in slitting rolls of film material which generates sufficient heat to cause undesirable fusing together of the layers of the film material. This heat is readily dissipated by the continuous blades 60, 62 and 64 as they pass about the drums and 12 and in addition, the cooling member 112 may be provided to further cool the temperature of the blades to prevent fusing of the material to be cut, particularly at high cutting rates. Further, this invention provides for an adjustable band saw in which the saw blade 64 may be adjusted to lead or lag the knife blades 60, 62 in order to slit different types of materials which are best cut at different saw blade positions.

While a particular arrangement has been disclosed, it will be understood that various changes may be made to the structure without departing from the spirit of the invention and the illustrated form is in no way to be construed so as to limit the invention. Any such changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A slitting mechanism: support means; at least a pair of drums rotatably mounted on said support means in spaced aligned relationship; a pair of continuous knife blades mounted on said drums; a continuous saw blade mounted on said drums and disposed between said pair of knife blades; power means connected to one of said drums for driving said blades; and a blade guide on said support means engaging said pair of knife blades to keep said knife blades in abutting relationship with said saw blade, said guide having an adjustable member engaging said saw blade to position the cutting edge of said saw blade in the desired position relative to the cutting edge of said pair of knife blades.

2. The slitting mechanism of claim 1 wherein said support means has power driven means for moving said support relative to the material to be cut, and wherein said support means has shafts mounting said drums at an angle to the surface of the material to be cut, and wherein said guide engages the outer sides of said knife blades to position said knife blades and said saw blade generally perpendicular to the surface of the material to be cut.

3. The slitting mechanism of claim 1 wherein said guide has a pair of rollers mounted thereon and disposed on opposite sides of and engaged with the outer surfaces of said pair of knife blades, and wherein said adjustable member of said guide is an adjustable roller engaged with the non-cutting edge of said saw blade.

4. The slitting mechanism of claim 3 wherein said slitting mechanism has means for positioning by said adjustable roller to lead and lag said knife blades.

5. A slitting mechanism comprising: support means; a pair of drums rotatably mounted on said support means in spaced aligned relationship; a pair of continuous knife blades mounted on said drums; a continuous saw blade mounted on said drums and disposed between said pair of knife blades; power means connected to one of said drums for driving said blades; a pair of spaced blade guides mounted on said support means, each of said guides engaging said pair of knife blades to keep said knife blades in abutting relationship with said saw blade, and each of said guides having an adjustable member engaging said saw blade to position the cutting edge of said saw blade in the desired position relative to the cutting edge of said pair of knife blades.

6. The slitting mechanism of claim 5 wherein said support means has power driven means for moving said support relative to the material to be cut, and wherein said pair of spaced guides are adjustably mounted on said support means to adapt the position of said pair of guides to accommodate various sizes of material to be cut.

7. The slitting mechanism of claim 5 wherein said support means has shafts mounting said drums at an angle to the surface of the material to be cut, and wherein said pair of guides engages the outer sides of said knife blades to position said knife blades and said saw blade generally perpendicular to the surface of the material to be cut.

8. The slitting mechanism of claim 5 wherein said pair of guides each has a pair of rollers mounted thereon and disposed on opposite sides of and engaged with the outer surface of said pair of knife blades, and wherein said adjustable member of said guide is an adjustable roller engaged with the non-cutting edge of said saw blade.

9. The slitting mechanism of claim 8 wherein said slitting mechanism has a width greater than the width of said pair of knife blades for positioning by said adjustable roller to lead and lag said knife blades.

10. A slitting mechanism comprising: movable support means; a pair of drums rotatably mounted on said support means in spaced apart aligned relationship, said drums being mounted on shafts on said housing at an angle to the surface of the material to be cut; a pair of continuous knife blades mounted on said drums; a continuous saw blade mounted on said drums and disposed between said pair of knife blades; power means connected to one of said drums for driving said blades; a pair of spaced guides mounted on said support means, each of said guides having a pair of rollers mounted thereon and disposed on opposite sides of and engaging said pair of knife blades keeping said knife blades in abutting relationship with said saw blade and positioning said knife blades and said saw blade generally perpendicular to the surface of the material to be cut, and each of said guides having an adjustable roller engaging the non-cutting edge of said saw blade to position the cutting edge of said saw blade in the desired position relative to the cutting edge of said pair of knife blades.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 871,828 11/1907 Sexton 82-101 1,537,344 5/1925 Giles 82-101 2,015,877 10/1935 Thompson 82-46 X 2,864,411 12/ 1958 Stringfellow 143-22 3,174,369 3/1965 Denk 82-101 3,181,577 5/1965 Gaskins 143-133 3,218,894 11/1965 Chow 82-101 3,250,161 5/1966 Guilford 82-46 FOREIGN PATENTS 678,658 1/ 1964 Canada.

HARRISON L. HINSON, Primary Examiner. 

1. A SLITTING MECHANISM: SUPPORT MEANS; AT LEAST A PAIR OF DRUMS ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON SAID SUPPORT MEANS IN SPACED ALIGNED RELATIONSHIP; A PAIR OF CONTINUOUS KNIFE BLADES MOUNTED ON SAID DRUMS AND DISPOSED BETWEEN SAID PAIR MOUNTED ON SAID DRUMS AND DISPOSED BETWEEN SAID PAIR OF KNIFE BLADES; POWER MEANS CONNECTED TO ONE OF SAID DRUMS FOR DRIVING SAID BLADES; AND A BLADE GUIDE ON SAID SUPPORT MEANS ENGAGING SAID PAIR OF KNIFE BLADES TO KEEP SAID KNIFE BLADES IN ABUTTING RELATIONSHIP WITH SAID SAW BLADE, SAID GUIDE HAVING AN ADJUSTABLE MEMBER 